Songs can make or break a video part. For instance, I love watching Peter Ramondetta skate, but that Exodus song in Real’s Since Day One is just horrible. Then again, Huf’s use of Heart’s “Crazy On You” in Real to Reel combined with the editing (I think he lands on EVERY cymbal crash) is so perfect that it instantly became one of my all time favorite parts. I love jazz in street parts simply because street skating IS jazz to me.

In skate parts, the music has to match the skating. I can’t even process Mega Ramp skating, but Danny Way couldn’t have skated to anything but Metallica’s “Orion” in The DC Video simply because he needed a song that grandiose for introducing the world for that type of stuff.

We’ve all watched skate videos and wondered why certain songs haven’t been used, so here’s five songs that I think need to be in videos along with the skaters/companies that should use them:

1. Brandon Biebel & Jennifer Lopez featuring Ja Rule’s “I’m Real”– Not even kidding here. I don’t know why Biebel skates to anything BUT Ja Rule. Ever since he asked Allison or Alice if she’d heard the new Ja Rule in Yeah Right and he then used a Ja Rule song in Chomp On This, it was a match made in heaven. Ja Rule should go back, pull a George Lucas, and add Biebel into all of his videos. All of them. There is a thread on Slap right now about the upcoming Pretty Sweet video and a forum member named chockfullofthat mentioned this song. I had been struggling because I was only looking at Ja Rule’s songs and had forgotten that he was like, THE go-to artist for a cameo in a song ten years ago. Plus, the lyrics are perfect.

2. Anti-Hero & Poison Idea’s “Plastic Bomb”– This song is pretty much made for an intro of an Anti-Hero video (which we’re long overdue for). The piano intro is pretty much designed for blood, sweat and slams leading into a full team hill bombing in SF interspersed with traffic skating. The “whoa-o-oh’s” pretty much cement this whole thing as a song made for a skate video. It’s three minutes too, which is a perfect length for a part like this.

3. Antwuan Dixon & Killer Mike’s “R.A.P. Music”– Killer Mike combined with El-P’s production is killer, plus El-P (and Company Flow) have a bit of a history with skating as well. This song is pretty new and it could honestly work with pretty much any of the dudes on Deathwish, but I’d love to see it be used to bring Antwuan Dixon back. Killer Mike’s from Georgia, so if you wanna get really cool, have Dixon do a whole Atlanta section, since the city is amazing for skateboarding. Hey, we can dream.

4. Grant Taylor & Ghost’s “Con Clavi Con Dio”– Remember what I said about Danny Way and Metallica’s “Orion”? The same rules apply here. I always felt that vert skating goes well with heavy metal, but to use it, you’ve gotta have a skater who can carry that weight. Grant Taylor is that dude. Not anyone gets to skate to Slayer, much less “Raining Blood” and make it work, but Taylor sure did. “Con Clavi Con Dio” has that driving intensity that works with vert, but you could still have it work with some street skating which Taylor kills as well. Plus they Ghost has the whole Satan thing going on which all the kids love these days.

5. Gino Iannucci & Raekwon featuring Ghostface, Inspectah Deck & GZA’s “Guillotine (Swordz)”– I know Gino’s already skated to a Wu song before, but are you really gonna disagree? One of the best street skaters to one of the best solo Wu songs ever. Strictly filmed in New York and at night. I wouldn’t even want this in Pretty Sweet, I’d want it as a standalone piece. Gino and Wu is one of those great combos like pizza and beer or chocolate and peanut butter. If you grew up skating in the 90s, both Gino and Wu-Tang probably had a profound effect on you.

Luke Physioc is an artist specializing in tattoo, music and skateboard art, as well as a music reviewer. To view Luke’s art or read his album reviews, visit http://www.lukephysioc.com

Words: Luke Physioc
Original Illustration: Michael Giurato
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